天安门毛像被焚--中共末日不远
Mao Portrait on Tiananmen Is Decimated


每日一语：

毛像是中共权力的基点与其伪合法性的象征。 当人们公开销毁，辱灭毛像的时候，中共政权的末日也就不远了。 当今最重要的挑战是后共时期如何建立一个崇尚自由与人的尊严的社会与文化。 --- 陈凯

Mao's portrait has always been the symbol of the Chinese communist power and its fake legitimacy. When people in China openly destroy and decimate Mao's portraits and statues, it is the beginning of the end of the communist regime. The most important issue facing us today is what to do after the collapse of the Chinese communist regime, and how to establish a society with a healthy human culture that treasures and pursues freedom and respects human dignity. --- Kai Chen

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Dear Visitors:

Today in LA Times there is the news that a person tried to burn the portrait of Mao on the Tiananmen Gate.

Though this is a small incident, it is very telling that the symbol of the Chinese communist power and its fake legitimacy has been openly challenged. It is indeed the beginning of the end of the Chinese communist regime. I will not be surprised to see more and more similar acts and incidents will appear throughout China, destroying and decimating Mao's statues and portraits. In and around the anniversary of June 4th and the Beijing Olympics, something big will happen that will seriously challenge the legitimacy of the Chinese communist regime.

People: Prepare yourselves, not just for the upcoming collapse of the communist regime, most importantly, for the establishment of a entirely new society based NOT on a culture of worshipping devils from our ancestors, but on a human culture that treasures freedom, pursues happiness and respects human dignity. Only when such a healthy culture is established, true democracy with a meaningful constitution can be built. Start from yourself, start now, start with a new attitude and new spirit of freedom. Start, NOT to have another dynasty, but to move forward, with a purpose and meaning, with a direction and a moral compass, with America as our model.

Best wishes. Kai Chen

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I now paste the LA Times' article on the incident here:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/...ack=1&cset=true

[size=24]Man held in attempt to set fire to Mao portrait in Beijing[/size]

The suspect, from China's restive Xinjiang region, is swiftly arrested. The iconic picture overlooking Tiananmen Square is to be promptly replaced.

By Ching-Ching Ni, Times Staff Writer
May 13, 2007

BEIJING — Chinese police on Saturday arrested a man who allegedly tried to set fire to the giant portrait of Chairman Mao Tse-tung in Tiananmen Square, the official New China News Agency reported.

A man threw a homemade object at the painting of Communist China's founding father, causing smoke and fire to break out briefly on the bottom left-hand corner of the iconic portrait, which looms above the entrance to the Forbidden City.

Workers in a crane climbed up to sweep Mao's right shoulder with water and a broom. A black burn mark remained on the Great Helmsman's trademark gray suit.

A new portrait was scheduled to be put up Saturday night, the news agency said.

The suspect was identified as Gu Haiou, 35, an unemployed man from the far western Chinese city of Urumqi, capital of the restive Xinjiang autonomous region, home to ethnic Uighurs. He apparently had arrived in Beijing a few hours before tossing the object, authorities say.

Police immediately captured Gu and cleared the area of visitors.

China, with its booming capitalist-style economy and rising level of personal freedom, has turned much of the austere communism of the Mao era on its head. But the image of Mao remains sacrosanct, and its defamation is a serious crime.

"Mao is still the symbol of the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist government, therefore it cannot be touched," said Xiao Qiang, director of the China Internet Project at UC Berkeley.

Saturday's incident came 18 years to the month after three men threw eggshells filled with paint on Mao's portrait at the height of the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy demonstrations. They received sentences ranging from 16 years to life in prison.

Lu Decheng, who was released after 10 years, fled to Canada. He said he had suffered beatings in prison and was forced to make Christmas lights as part of his labor and reform.

Yu Dongyue served 17 years. When he was released last year he reportedly was so mentally debilitated that he could not speak to his mother.

Their crime at the time was "counterrevolutionary destruction" and "counterrevolutionary incitement."

Gu's fate is unclear. Counterrevolutionary activity is no longer a formal charge. But political offenders can be detained under other charges, according to Xiao.

The Beijing Public Security Bureau told the New China News Agency that Gu had a history of mental illness.

Though the suspect's motivations may never become public, China is a country brimming with discontent rising from a growing income gap and widespread official corruption.

The government reported 87,000 illegal disturbances in 2005.

As the symbolic heart of the country, Tiananmen remains a preferred stage for many activists. But the massive public square is blanketed with police, and any act of protest is swiftly subdued.

chingching.ni@latimes.com